


i'm falling like the sun at seven pm

by teastainedsweaters



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Zhangjun, linkai is tired of yanjun's shit and, linong is a cockblock :'), music major!zhangjing, my kink is yanjun being the shy one in the relationship so here, soccer player!yanjun, this is the outcome of two panicked gays falling in love, this isn't even edited properly so don't bully me for my grammar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 15:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15075974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teastainedsweaters/pseuds/teastainedsweaters
Summary: he wondered what it was like kissing boys. kissing zhangjing. his small, soft lips that formed a heart when he smiled, the ones he purses into a thin line when he can't figure out a certain word, or even humming during warm ups. oh god, yanjun is creepy.seven days of lin yanjun's gay awakening.





	i'm falling like the sun at seven pm

**Author's Note:**

> title from victon's because of you.

_**day one.** _

"if you keep staring at him like that he's gonna think you're a murderer."

yanjun snorted, jumping in his spot as his daze was interrupted. he peered to his left, finding his friend chuckling at his shock. "for someone who has a bunch of pretty girls following you, you've been attracted to that guy for a while now, they might start to think you like guys."

he robotically laughed at the joke, still hesitant in coming out of his daze. thoughts slowly started to vanish, yanjun now unintentionally squinting at the boy. stomping down hard onto the concrete with his foot, yanjun started to shake his head violently, slapping his cheeks to get him out of his trance.

yanjun's thoughts hidden away at the back of his mind decided to steal the spotlight as he glanced at linkai. he glared at him, making the younger disgusted. "don't look at me like that, you look constipated." linkai fake gagged, pushing the male slightly which he wobbled from. yanjun stared harder, useless questions clearing the way for the thought in his mind, words at the tip of his tongue.

yanjun wondered what it was like to fall in love with boys. (well obviously he wouldn't fall in love with linkai, that would be unfortunate.) his eyes instinctively trailed back to the window, landing on the boy who leant against the wall, crumping paper in his hands. he was glad there weren't many students walking around, if there were, they'd probably see yanjun mindlessly, creepily staring at the tired boy in the music room.

linkai was right, he'd been staring at the boy for a while now, not just throughout the day but throughout the whole past two weeks. it wasn't like he _meant_  to stare, he just had thoughts about the boy when his eyes chose to lay their sight on him. it wasn't his fault the boy was eye-catching, it was simply yanjun's mind telling him he's a very pretty boy that seemed to be brighter than the dull students around him.

a pretty boy with a pretty name, you zhangjing.

yanjun and zhangjing were probably complete opposites. zhangjing was an, ironically quiet, music major as yanjun was a loud, rowdy sports major. their buildings use to be on the opposite side of the campus which took seven minutes and forty seconds to get to from one another, but who's counting? not yanjun, of course.

their faculties now got moved to be right next to each other as other students complained how noisy they all are, arguing with the principals about the arrangements. he couldn't blame them, the amount of shouting from coaches on his side and instruments from the music building, yanjun really did wonder why the school separated the two loudest faculties apart yet squished it in between two most quiet buildings side by side. it now only took approximately three minutes to get there. (not that it's important or anything.)

"yanjun, can we get back to practice? chengcheng actually looks like he's gonna pass out. do you wanna carry a heavy, sweaty, humongous body all the way to the infirmary? yeah, didn't think so. let's go, lover boy."

as the male opened his mouth to whine, zhangjing, from inside the building, glanced up, eyes falling on yanjun through the window. yanjun froze. "l-linkai, he's staring," he muttered through his teeth, daring to not move his lips.

"how about you stare at the ball we need to kick?" linkai groaned, walking backwards to get to the field.

"i can't look away now, he's staring right at me! fuck it's a staring contest!"

"you're going to scare him—"

"he's the one scaring me!"

linkai grunted as he stomped towards yanjun and grabbed him by the collar. after making brief eye contact with zhangjing, he shook his head, mumbling to himself about idiots. yanjun broke away from his 'staring contest' after seeing zhangjing wink through the glass, making yanjun's heart jump.

"did you just see that? he did that!"

"yeah yeah, i know what you're about to say," linkai sighed, mocking yanjun, " _'really out here doing that! wig!'_ we get it, you like him."

"well," yanjun hesitated, "i wouldn't say i _like_ him."

by the time they reached the field, linkai stared back at yanjun with a blank face. "you don't _like_ him in that way? bro, you've been pining for like four years now, i've never seen you look at someone in that way before. if it was just friendship, you'd give him the same look you give me."

"disappointment?"

"exactly."

yanjun huffed and crossed his arms, "you don't know what you're talking about, linkai. i'm don't think i'm," he paused to lean closer to him and whispered, "gay."

"bisexuals exist, you know, and why are you whispering."

"i-i don't know wonder if people overhear us?"

"what, are you scared of people finding out?"

"no! there's nothing to find out, i'm not—" yanjun growled, "okay look we're not gonna talk about this here, let's just get back to practice, can we?"

linkai silently agreed before they walked to the field, dismissing the topic as if it never happened.

-

walking back from the locker rooms, the two friends split paths to head to their respective afternoon classes. on the way, yanjun occasionally stopped his walk to think, earning curious glances from the people around him. he walked slower than usual, wondering if he even wanted to attend class. not really. it obviously wasn't worth it to skip, i mean he could practically pay for a whole new phone with that class but yanjun was tired and unfocused. the only thing clouding his mind would be _him_.

you zhangjing, the quiet kid who practically made the sun jobless. yanjun knew zhangjing since high school, always watching him from afar. his two best friends nicknamed yanjun 'embarrassing evan' which he disgruntled about for the whole entire summer. (it was true, he had to admit.)

zhangjing was the typical popular upperclassman everyone adored. yanjun was....well yanjun. he watched the elder from the sidelines, smiling at him in the halls and managing to stutter out a few words in the cafeteria line. he never really thought about actually liking the boy due to growing up with the mindset of only having girlfriends. also, the topic never really came up with his parents, he just assumed they wanted the family line to run on. and besides, yanjun just wanted to be friends with the boy. yeah, that's all.

_**day two.** _

waking up at five am was usual for yanjun. he liked early adventures, ones where he could be alone in the mornings, no distractions. (especially before linkai's alarm went off, blaring his obnoxious rap music.) he rode his bike to the soccer fields out of the area his apartment was located in. he admired the new surroundings and fresh faces rather than his familiar area that he's been cooped up in for the past two years. as his bike rounded the street corner, the big green field entered his sea of vision. grinning excitedly, he sped up his pace and quickly entered the bike stands, bubbling with glee. he didn't know why he felt so joyful today, it was apparently "ass o clock" and "felt like satan's ass" as ziyi told yanjun when he denied his request of going out.

he locked his bike onto the rack, heaved his duffel bag over his shoulder and jogged down the walkway, eager to get on the grass. he skipped down the long flight of stairs as he glanced up to look at the beautiful sun rising, basking in the cool weather before it turned to scorch in the day. glancing down, yanjun paused in his step when he spotted a boy sitting in the middle of the field on a wide spread out blanket, writing an crumpling small sheets of paper. even from afar, which is creepy if his friends heard about this, yanjun still managed to decipher the wavy hair, bright eyes and small figure belonging to you zhangjing.

as if the latter sensed someone watching him, he hesitantly looked around to see if anyone was around. soon enough, his eyes landed on yanjun.

he panicked, completely losing his step and tumbled down the stairs before he could stop himself. balance? don't know her. when he landed on the hard concrete, a faint yelp was heard from the other side of the field.

shuffles and pattering were heard as yanjun turned onto his back, groaning out incoherent words. zhangjing blurted, "oh my god, are you okay?—shit of course you're not why would i even ask that i'm so dumb—here hold on i have ice packs and bandages, just stay there for a second—god of course you're gonna stay there, what are you gonna do, get up and walk?"

yanjun's eyes were half closed due to the bright sun glaring down in his direction, slightly peeking them open to see zhangjing folding a blanket and gently placing it under his pounding head, talking nonsense to himself. "don't worry, i didn't sit on it! i sat on another blanket which i'm not using for you— i mean that wasn't really necessary for you to know, but i just— never mind." he nervously reassured. yanjun liked the sound of his voice.

slightly shifting his head, he glanced over to the male opening a basket to pull out frozen ice packs and a small container of bandages like he mentioned. "oh my god, i feel so bad, am i the one who made you fall? you should've been paying attention.." zhangjing mumbled softly. after asking permission and a painful nod coming from yanjun, he took a hold of his hands and wiped them clean before wrapping them in a small bandage. yanjun liked the feeling of his hands in his own.

crawling closer, the boy hesitantly pat his cheek with the wipe, short breaths reaching yanjun's skin. "dude your fall was...well something." he chuckled. yanjun really admired the sound of his laugh.

"i can patch up my legs, it's okay." yanjun softly assured, slowly sitting up so zhangjing couldn't see his legs shaking. the latter nodded and handed him some disinfectants. yanjun asked, "why do you have so many first aid items with you?"

"i mean, coming here alone every morning could completely turn 180 even if this is a safe neighbourhood. might as well be prepared."

hissing at a sting on his knee, yanjun nodded in agreement. before he could get another word out, the boy beat him to it. "do you need a ride home? my apartment is literally a thirty second walk and if you can stand then i can drive you home. unless you want to continue with your day on the field?"

yanjun glanced at the duffel bag that flew out of his hands on the ground beside him, deciding that he didn't come here for nothing. "think i'm gonna stay, it doesn't hurt too bad." he shrugged, shaking off the shivers.

"alright well if you need anything, just wave to me or something, i'll be on my balcony outside—"

"how about you stay with me?" yanjun suggested, already back to his flirtatious side, "i-i mean, like just in case if i get hurt or anything!" he chuckled. the boy hesitated before nodding cutely and helping him with his stuff.

he panicked (again), wondering if he should introduce himself. did zhangjing already know his name? "my name's lin yanjun, by the way, you?" he almost wheezed out of embarrassment, _(you?,_ yanjun thought, _of course you already know zhangjing, why are you asking for his name?_ )

"oh i already know who you are, but i'm you zhangjing, nice to meet you!"

yanjun almost burst into tears. you zhangjing knew who he was? he lopsidedly smiled, dimples and all, completely melting in the sun shining off of the boy in front of him. yanjun could get use to this.

_**day three.** _

yanjun woke up with a thud. he fell off his bed. again. a shout was heard from down the hall coming from his roommates, "morning, jun!"

the boy cursed, knowing him and his friends were all too familiar with this procedure. their mornings went as usual: yanjun often found himself waking up on the floor which made the sound resonate through the apartment, signifying to his roommates that he was awake. "morning, linkai. morning, ziyi," yanjun grumbled. he rolled around on the hard ground, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before lazily lifting himself back onto the bed.

today was just not his day. his knee was bruised from the embarrassing fall yesterday, it was gloomy outside, pouring rain, if you'd say the least, and his roommates were blaring their annoying rap music down the hall. (chengcheng: do people not passionately love this thing called rap?)

he stumbled out of bed, not forgetting the occurrence where he accidentally knocks his hip into his desk, and wobbled outside to the bathroom. once he managed to shower and brush his teeth without somehow managing to choke himself, he walked into the kitchen, immediately lowering the loud song emitting from linkai's phone. he snatched a cup from the cabinets and filled it up with tap water before turning to the boys.

"so, jun, i heard you fell on your face yesterday at the sight of zhangjing?" his roommate chuckled.

yanjun sighed, "i don't wanna bring it up."

"oh c'mon, it's not like you accidentally kicked him in the face with the ball or anything—"

"wang ziyi, that's the complete opposite of what we're talking about, where did you even get that idea?"

ziyi shrugged, cutting a piece of an egg he boiled previously. "could've happened, you know how uncoordinated jun is. well, at least you got to talk with him more right?"

"i guess so. did you know he actually knew who i was?"

linkai gasped so hard he choked on his grape, "someone knows of yanjun's existence? he probably knows you because you always 'coincidentally' have your eyes on him. i mean, i'd wanna know my stalker's name too."

"i hate you with a burning passion, linkai." yanjun scoffed playfully. the former smiled brightly as he washed up his dishes in the small sink. the boys ate and cleaned in comfortable silence before ziyi brought up, "oh yeah, jun, i recently made a friend that's a coincidentally a music major and i think he's friends with zhangjing? we should all hang out together or something, you can join without seeming to obvious you're head over heels for the kid."

yanjun's eyes practically sparkled. "you're a life saver, ziyi. who's the friend?"

"his name is linong!"

"LINONG? AS IN CHEN LINONG?" xiao gui wheezed, "he's like the embodiment of sunshine, how the hell did he make friends with you?"

"uh i'm not _that_ bad! and also, xukun and him are like stuck to the hip, i see him almost every time we hang out."

yanjun and linkai exchanged an odd look before the former spoke up, "okay well when are we meeting up with them?"

"well those yuehua kids are throwing a party tomorrow and linong said zhangjing would probably go."

yanjun scoffed. _of course_ it was a party, it always was a party! he'd get tipsy, get lost from his friends and end up dead in a ditch. coincidentally, zhangjing would be with him. choose your path, they might even fall in love as they're dying! "sounds good," he mumbled.

linkai and ziyi cheered, subtly turning back on the radio and screaming out the lyrics, throwing gang signs. yanjun was horrified. he left the two to do their thing as he walked away to find clothes for the party, you zhangjing in mind.

_**day four.** _

yanjun felt the alcohol buzzing through his head, swaying as he swished the beer in his cup. he didn't even like beer? how the hell did it end up in his cup and why was he drinking it? yanjun was too tired to figure out.

it wasn't exactly how he planned it out. linkai was actually still with him, yet probably not for long. yanjun would have to be blind to not realize how hard him and this scary looking, short guy were eyeing each other. yanjun was too scared to even take a glance at him, but he knew he was a music major, linkai showed him some of his music before. jason? gazing? j.zen? yanjun forgot his name, he didn't really care about linkai's hook ups.

yanjun sighed as he reverted his attention away from the visibly sexual tension forming between the two. before he knew it, linkai was gone in a blink of an eye. (and so was that guy, but yanjun didn't wanna think about it.)

he continued to stare at the drink in his solo cup before gaining interest into seeing how slow he could pour it out into the sink before it actually slipped out of the cup.

"oh, yanjun?"

he yelped, flinching and thrusting his hand upwards, watching the liquid fly in the air. yanjun cursed and dropped his head, realizing the sound of splashing wasn't present. he turned around hesitantly seeing the content spilled on the person's shirt. "oh my god zhangjjng i—"

"oh."

yanjun cringed, holding out his hands wearily, inspecting the stain. "i-it was a mistake, i didn't actually mean to– you just– i got scared! i—"

"yan— no, look, yanjun— hey, yanjun please just– hey, look, it's fine! yanjun look, look it's fine! all smiles, great party! i love beer! haha!" (it didn't make yanjun feel better about the situation.)

the younger panicked, still holding the cup in his hands. he emptied out the rest of the drink in the sink and threw it into the garbage before grasping zhangjing's hand. yanjun dragged him through the house, swerving around the drunk, intoxicated bodies, attempting to find the upstairs washroom.

interrupting approximately two couples doing the dirty— he thanked the gods it wasn't linkai and his booty call— they eventually found the empty washroom. yanjun guided zhangjing in and locked the door behind them, making sure no one would accidentally barge in looking for a place to fuck.

after apologizing for the nth time, yanjun grabbed a few soaps that he could find. "so, i know some weird mixture that take out beer stains, but honestly, would you expect chengcheng to have anything but food in his apartment? me neither, unfortunately."

zhangjing giggled, slipping off his jacket and airing out his shirt. yanjun peeked a glance, gulped hard and tried not to stare. who the _hell_ allowed zhangjing to look that good in a muscle tee? certainly not mr. yanjun! he sped up his pace, taking a small towel out of the neatly stacked pile in the cabinets and soaked it with warm water.

"you know," zhanjing started, swinging his legs off the counter, "we should stop meeting like this."

yanjun raised an eyebrow, pumping a small amount of liquid soap onto the rag. zhangjing chuckled, "you know, having to tend for each other? first it was your knee, and now it's my shirt?"

the former blushed, handing the cloth to zhangjing to clean himself. "what," zhangjing teased, "don't wanna do it for me?"

yanjun's eyes widened, pinching the towel with his two fingers, feeling the water trickle down his forearm. "i-"

"i was kidding, don't get so nervous." zhangjing joked. he accepted the towel, intentionally (or non-intentionally, yanjun couldn't tell and he didn't know if he wanted to.) grazing his hand over the latter's, making brief, intense eye contact for no more than two seconds. he dabbed the cloth over the ugly yellow stain making its debut right in the middle of his white shirt.

yanjun stood beside him, awkwardly resting his elbows on the countertop next to zhangjing sitting atop. he zoned out for a few seconds, snapping out as he felt something warm on his cheek. "d-did you just spray beer-water on me?"

zhangjing broke out into a soft smile and swung his legs, waving the cloth back and forth, "and if i did?" he taunted.

yanjun shook his head with a playful smile and turned on the tap to wet his fingers with water. he flicked it in zhangjing's face, stepping back and turning away to avoid the disgusting mixture from getting on his face.

they continued to have the playful water fight, running around the small, long bathroom, avoiding yet attacking the other. with smiles and laughter, yanjun backed zhangjing up into the wall facing the wide mirror flicking water on his face, making zhangjing giggle.

yanjun choked, feeling the rag slap right across his face. he snorted, tears of laughter forming in his eyes before snatching the rag out of zhangjing's hands. the bathroom walls echoed with yelps and amusement.

before they knew it, yanjun stared down at zhangjing, pressed to the wall. they steadied their uneven breaths together, almost chest to chest, staring at each other with soft smiles. his eyes instinctively trailed down to zhangjing's lips, feeling the need to lick his own.

he wondered what it was like kissing boys. kissing zhangjing. his small, soft lips that formed a heart when he smiled, the ones he purses into a thin line when he couldn't figure out a certain word, or even humming during warm ups. oh god, yanjun is creepy.

zhangjing slowly brought his hand up to the back of yanjun's neck, slightly pulling him down as it ran through the short, thin hairs sticking up at the back of his head. their breathes came to a slow, whispers of air floating between the small space separating the two.

yanjun really didn't know what was going on. one minute they were laughing and the next minute they were about to kiss. what can he say, he's living his best life, nothing could stop him. yanjun reached a hand out to encircle zhangjing's waist before hearing an urgent knock on the door.

"zhangjing? you there? it's linong!"

the two broke out of their daze as zhangjing reluctantly dropped his hand off yanjun's shoulder and down his arm. "linong? yeah it's me, zhangjing," he called out, loosely intertwining yanjun's pinky with his as he walked to the door. yanjun ran his hands through his hair, wondering _what the hell just happened_. he took a quickly glance seeing his hair now in a ball of mess, probably looking like post-sex.

zhangjing twisted open the lock, revealing linong with a small grin. the smile quickly disappeared seeing yanjun behind him with messy hair with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. linong stuttered, "y-you, y-yanjun and you, y-you're!—"

turning around at the speed of light, zhangjing's eyes practically popped out, seeing yanjun now in distress, still wondering _wHAT WAS GOING ON_. "no, linong, it's—i– we weren't actually—"

linong put his hands over his head, gaping at the two, "i knew you two were pining, but fucking already? you guys move quick!"

"LINONG NO."

zhangjing tightened his grip on yanjun's pinky as he twirled around, facing him. he quickly kissed his cheek before letting go of his hand, apologizing, and dragging a scarred linong out of the house.

yanjun was so awe(love?)struck he closed the door behind him and slid down against it, pressing his hand to his cheek. he rubbed his face into his hands before slowly lifting himself up to wash his face with water. yanjun washed out the rag contaminated with the weird mixture and hung it up with the clip attached to the shower rack.

yanjun was so dazed, he honestly felt high. he looked around the bathroom, scratching his head, wondering if he should clean up the puddles of water on the floor. they'll evaporate. he shrugged and turned to walk out, but a black bundle on the countertop caught his eye. yanjun gasped loudly, choking in the process. he picked it up, panicking for the nth time that day, as he realized it was zhangjing's jacket. oh my god, _zhangjing's_ jacket.

he swung it over his shoulder, blushing in the process, before exiting the bathroom and joining the party.

_**day five.** _

yanjun sat upright in his bed, lights off and laptop settled in his lap. he rested his head on the wall behind him with his back supported by a pillow. yanjun browsed through twitter and wasted time trying to distract himself from the jacket staring at him, hanging off the desk chair in the corner of his room as if it was taunting him to do something about it. he shook his head and hovered his clicker over the start of the new tab, biting his thumbnail, questions crowding his mind. yanjun questioned himself before typing in the words:

_how to tell if you like someone._

he backspaced and shook his head, too corny.

_how to tell if you're gay._

he deleted that also, too straightforward. yanjun rested his head onto his palm, obnoxiously tapping on the laptop's surface, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

_am i gay test_

yanjun sighed, shrugging and clicking the first link. he didn't know if he was necessarily gay, possibly bi? okay, he knew he was at least _something_. i mean, the fact that he's been apparently pining for zhangjing for the past _four years_ , there had to be something there. yanjun scrunched his eyebrows staring at the multiple questions on the test because, _no, i don't know who made that designer bag, i like beer better than wine, and who the hell is carson kressley?_

he groaned, closing the quiz to find another one. to his distress, nothing. all the questions he received were dumb, too obvious he'd get homosexual. i mean, don't you think the question: _do you get attracted to the other gender more than your own? or any at all?,_ would be enough to determine whether you could be part of the lgbt+ community rather than the bunch of useless, weird questions that stereotypes them?

rolling his eyes, yanjun shut his laptop and hit the back of his head against the wall repeatedly, trying to figure out what the hell he was feeling. he knew for a fact that he liked zhangjing. wait, did he _like_ zhangjing? shit, this was hard. yanjun took a deep breath and placed his laptop on the nightstand next to his bed before turning over to his left side and holding out his hand.

"hey zhangjing!" he greeted to the thin air, practicing a conversation, "that sounds too excited. _yo, zhangjing!_ no, not that either. _zhangjing! my dude!_ what the fuck, he's not even my dude. _zhangjing—_ "

yanjun froze, hearing a soft knock on the door. he didn't reply, thinking he was just hearing things. a few seconds past and another soft knock was heard making a shiver travel down his spine, remembering linkai and ziyi were out for two nights and would probably just come through the door with their keys.

the male slowly peeled off the bedsheets and quickly tiptoed to the door, careful of making sounds. (the last thing he wanted out of this night was to get murdered, knowing the multiple gay testing sites still lurking in his search history.)

yanjun peeked through the peephole, squinting his eyes to view the person.

wavy hair, bright eyes, small figure, you zhangjing.

yanjun gasped, legs weak in nervousness. what was he doing here at twelve am? why out of all times? he frantically glanced around the apartment, sweaty palms and all. he hesitated, hand hovering over the knob, eyes squinting and eyebrows furrowing. yanjun groaned before whipping it open, revealing _him_ in the flesh.

zhangjing peered up, smiling as he saw the former. it was piss hour and zhangjing still managed to steal the sun's spotlight. "hey." zhangjing whispered, hushed tone making yanjun want to melt in a puddle of awe.

"hey," yanjun squeaked, holding onto the doorframe for support, "whatcha need?"

"well long story but i was just at linong's place down the hall and i just finished brushing my teeth, but i forgot my face wash in my bag in the lobby so i went to get it but i realized i didn't have my key or my phone so i couldn't get back in! i knocked on the door and all, but it's like, i don't know, twelve am? i didn't wanna wake him up because we just came back from practice and he had a hard day so i just don't know what to do and i know you live here because linong's been here and he told me before but i-"

yanjun gulped, taking in the whole story from start to finish, waving his hands out to stop zhangjing, "you can stay here for the night, it's cool, don't worry. here, come in."

he opened the door wider allowing zhangjing to sheepishly stroll in, nervously wrapping his arms around himself. "sorry again, i didn't know what to do."

"no it's fine, don't worry about it!" yanjun chuckled nervously, locking the door behind him, "well um you _could_ sleep in ziyi or linkai's room but i really don't suggest it? they're really messy and i don't even think they've cleaned their sheets this week. anyways, you can sleep in my bed if you want and i can just take the couch. there's blankets and pillows already step up there anyways."

"what? no, are you kidding me? i'm the guest here, i should take the couch."

"yeah, you're right about being the guest. which means _i_ get to choose where you sleep because i'm the owner of this apartment. you're sleeping in my bed." yanjun announced, standing in front of the elder, smiling brightly.

zhangjing pouted as he stared up at him, grabbing his forearm which made yanjun, _jddjfkjdsfjsffs????_ (obviously internally, he needed to keep his cool around zhangjing.) "i'm sleeping on the couch, yanjun," ending the argument, steering and pushing yanjun into his room, "goodnight." he mumbled under his breath, walking back to the living room.

yanjun stared at his retreating figure, smiling to himself as he left his room door open before walking back to his bed.

-

after tossing and turning for almost an hour feeling somewhat uncomfortable, he gently took off his covers, shuffling to the living room to see if zhangjing was comfortable and sleeping. as soon as yanjun stepped foot into the room, zhangjing flipped over to face him and grinned, eye smiles radiating from the moonlight shining down through the windows. "i see you're awake."

yanjun scoffed playfully, extending a hand out to him. "c'mon, you're coming to my room."

"yanjun."

"zhangjing. don't make me pick you up and bring you over myself."

with wide eyes, zhangjing giggled with a playful grin plastered on his face, standing up and taking yanjun's hand to walk to his room. he awkwardly stood beside the bed, wondering if it was even okay to sleep in here.

"i don't bite. if you get uncomfortable then you can ask me to sleep on the couch."

"if anything, i wouldn't even wake you up and i'd probably be the one that would go myself." he rolled his eyes, climbing into bed beside yanjun.

the two boys laid on their backs for a solid minute, staring up at the ceiling, resting in comfortable silence. yanjun could feel his eyes drooping, internally sighing in relief, finding comfort. he turned one last time to his left, seeing zhangjing already fast asleep, watching his chest rise and fall.

yanjun smiled lazily, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, now eyes shut with sleep. caught in the sleepy daze, yanjun failed to notice zhangjing curling up closer to his embrace.

**_day six._ **

with tangled limbs, messy hair and soft snores, yanjun and zhangjing woke up to the blinding light shining through the window shades. zhangjing mumbled out incoherent sentences as he lazily draped his arm around the younger's waist, still drunk with sleepiness. yanjun instinctively smiled though feeling his arm turning numb, acting as a head rest for the zhangjing.

the two sighed in unison, short breaths of laughter following quickly after before slowly regaining consciousness, basking in the moment for just a second longer. "morning." yanjun chuckled.

"oh that's hot." zhangjing blurted, rubbing his eyes. yanjun snorted as he peered down at zhangjing, smiling to himself, wondering how luck he was to see the sunshine doing his job. "you know you take up like half of the bed right?"

yanjun gasped, placing a hand on his chest, "it's not my fault i'm like three times taller than you."

"yeah my leg was hanging off of the bed and now it hurts, it's your fault if i need a cast for the next few days."

"should've just kept clinging onto me for the whole night, huh?"

zhangjing blushed, rolling his eyes, "how long do you think it would take for linong to find—"

a frantic pounding on the door interrupted the two boys from their moment. they sighed, "linong." yanjun reluctantly tore off the covers and shifted out of bed to get the door, zhangjing following shortly. he walked across his apartment and unlocked the locks before swinging open the door, lazily smiling at the boy.

"hey yanjun, have you seen zhangjing anywhere? i don't know where he went and i don't know if he came here." linong awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. as yanjun was about to open his mouth, zhangjing popped out behind him, grinning tiredly.

"i'm here!" he announced, "thanks for letting me stay last night, i had fun? i guess. also, walking is a pain, i'm blaming you for making my legs hurt." zhangjing chuckled.

linong's jaw went slack, "ew! i don't need to hear about your sex life!"

the two boys choked, coughing and trying to change the topic, "no it's–"

zhangjing pushed linong into the hallway, "we're not talking about it, let's go!" he rushed, quickly sending a thankful smile to yanjun before shoving linong down the hall.

yanjun watched the two struggle and argue as they walked down to linong's apartment, keeping their voices hush due to the morning. seeing them enter the apartment, yanjun leant back and shut the door, taking a deep breath and smiling, feeling content and warm. walking back to the bathroom, his eyes caught the black clothing dangling off the swivel chair. he forgot to give back the jacket. yanjun whined, stomping to the washroom in disappointment.

-

"heads!" someone yelled before yanjun nearly ducked a soaring soccer ball. linkai chuckled, wrapping an arm around yanjun's neck and pulling him down for a headlock. "what got you in a daze? little oh you zhangjing?"

"shut up asshat," yanjun choked out, effortlessly yanking the arms trapped around him. "why aren't you on the field?"

"why aren't _you_ on the field?"

"what, a guy can't get water?"

"you're not even drinking anything."

yanjun rolled his eyes and trudged to the changing rooms to shower. when he finished, the boys went back to the field for closing announcements. throughout the coaches words and suggestions, yanjun tried his best to stay focused. he caught the words of, game, next thursday and still got a lot to do as he felt the nudges linkai gave him as if he knew when yanjun zoned out.

by the time the coach dismissed them, linkai couldn't stop laughing, slinging an arm around yanjun. "my god, you really can't go one practice without thinking of this guy? it's been four years man, have both of you not done _anything_?"

yanjun groaned, hosting his duffle bag over his shoulder, "it's easier said than done."

"no. it's _'hey zhangjing, i kinda like you and obviously i know it's okay if you don't like me back, but i just thought you should know!'_ see! simple."

"linkai i'm a pussy."

"yeah, a pussy to admit you don't like pussy—"

"shut up, will you?" yanjun snorted, pushing linkai in playfulness. linkai chuckled, "really, i'm serious. worst of the worst he won't ever talk to you again, but don't you think there's a slight chance he actually _does_ like you? i mean, c'mon are you really just gonna throw away your four years worth of feelings? _four years,_  yanjun."

"yeah okay, you don't need to repeat it." he grumbled. out the corner of his eye, he spotted a small figure leaning against the pole kicking the small rocks on the ground. "uh i'm gonna head out another way, i'll see you tomorrow if you don't come back to the apartment later today?"

"yeah yeah, i'll see you." the two soccer players waved their goodbyes before yanjun jogged to the boy. "zhangjing?" he asked, slowly etching closer to him.

when zhangjing peered up and saw yanjun, his smile immediately widened, skipping towards the latter. "hey, you're still here?"

"yeah, practice ended late, i'm guessing you're waiting for someone?"

a smile cracked on zhangjing's face, "something like that. are you busy now? we can go out for something if you want, it'll be my treat for not properly thanking you for last night."

"yeah!" yanjun exclaimed, "i mean um, yeah doesn't matter, but you know you don't have to repay me."

"it's the least i can do. anyways, there's a convenience store down the road if we're feeling something light?"

yanjun shrugged, "sure, why not?"

the boys strolled down the campus and onto the street, watching the sunset fall by them as they walked in, thankfully, comfortable silence. yanjun admired zhangjing's presence, no need for the conversation. he was naturally cute from how he looked and dressed, the way he talked, the sound of his voice, zhangjing was effortlessly making people fall for him and yanjun realized he was one of them.

**_day seven._ **

"so you just write songs on your free time?"

"yeah, usually," zhangjing replied, crumpling yet another paper filled with scrapped lyrics. the two boys sat on a picnic blanket in the middle of the field, staring up at the sky. they've been there in the exact spot since six am because yanjun 'coincidentally' ended up in the neighborhood and 'just so happened' to see zhangjing sitting in the park. throughout the day they got to know each other, from the simple to the heavyweight, they shared secrets and laughs under the big oak tree.

"so the song you're currently writing, what's it about?"

zhangjing's eyes widened, accidentally crumpling another paper into his fist. "uh you know, just unrequited love. sappy, angsty, all that."

"sounds famili— rough. sounds rough." yanjun coughed out, smiling to hide his mistake. to his thankfulness, zhangjing just shrugged and continued to write. if someone were to ask what yanjun would be doing on a regular day, he wouldn't even have the thought of hanging out with a music major in peaceful silence come to mind.

"yeah, rough i guess." zhangjing shrugged.

"do you wanna like...sing it to me?"

"wait what—"

"no- i mean, i actually don't even know what i mean, sorry i'm bad at this."

zhangjing snorted, hiding his wide smile behind the palm of his hand. "no it's fine, i just— well it's not done, i need inspiration to finish."

"i can help you! ask me anything!"

"oh, well uh it's about love and all, are you comfortable with that?" zhangjing asked. yanjun nodded, thinking he could just talk about zhangjing without him actually having to know. "okay first question," zhangjing paused to think, "how did you ask linkai out?"

yanjun stared at zhangjing with shock, coughing out the amusment, "l-linkai? asking him out? dating? oh god that would be a nightmare."

"wait what? you two were never together?"

"no! god that would be horrible, we're just friends and he's on and off with this other guy." yanjun cleared up, "why'd you think we were together?"

zhangjing opened his mouth, but quickly closed it back with the loss of words. "i don't know actually. you two just seemed really close, especially back in high school."

"no, no, absolutely not. i liked someone else back in high school anyways."

at the statement, zhangjing's ears perked up, quickly closing his notebook and shifting closer, "really? who!"

yanjun laughed, biting his lip in nervousness. how was he suppose to tell zhangjing that the person he likes is right in front of him? linkai's words ran through his mind, yet the only thing he remembered from it was _you don't like me back_. yanjun froze, "no one, i'm not saying."

"oh c'mon! fine, do you still like the person now?"

yanjun swallowed, _zhangjing been knew!,_  he thought before shrugging. "maybe." he lied.

zhangjing huffed, folding his hands in his lap, "fine, if i tell you who i like then you have to tell me who you like."

"what are we, toddlers?" yanjun scoffed, cautious smile on his lips. he _knew_ zhangjing wouldn't say his name, he was ultimately preparing himself up for disappointment. zhangjing looked at him with curiosity, "so? are we gonna tell each other?"

"what's in it for me?" yanjun taunted, trying to stall.

"well, you get to know something new about me and you get to be credited in my new song for helping me!"

it was nothing, but yanjun agreed. he didn't really want to confess like this, but he realized that courage would never appear again, so he might as well do it now.

"okay i'll go." zhangjing started. "don't let this affect our friendship, okay?"

_oh god, he probably liked linkai._

"well, the guy i like is _so_ handsome, i always thought he was so much more cool than me, he's so kind and so generous, i honestly think he deserves more, he probably doesn't like me back."

"zhangjing, anyone would love you."

"would you?" zhangjing teased, tilting his head to the side. the air in yanjun's throat got caught and he sat up straight.

"don't change the topic to me."

"but it's important to know because you're the one i like, lin yanjun."

yanjun stared at zhangjing for a good five seconds, trying to take in the confession. he stuttered out a few words before realizing what he said. "Y-YOU LIKE _ME_?"

"what? how could you not tell i liked you?"

"I DON'T KNOW! I THINK I'VE BEEN CRUSHING ON YOU FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS?"

"THINK? PAST FOUR YEARS? I'VE BEEN CRUSHING ON _YOU_ FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS!"

"YOU HAVE?"

"YANJUN, I TRIED TO KISS YOU ON THE NIGHT OF THE PARTY!"

"WHY ARE WE YELLING?"

"I DON'T KNOW, STOP!"

"YOU STOP!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S STILL YELL-" yanjun lept forward and cupped zhangjing's cheeks in his palms, letting the words die out on his tongue.

yanjun stuttered, not knowing what came over him, "i- sorry i-" he softly chuckled, looking away from zhangjing's stare. he bit his a lip a few times before telling himself to _get it together, stop being a wimp!_ gathering the courage, yanjun asked, "can i kiss you?"

with a nod, millimetres apart, breaths mingling, both of their eyes dropped to each other's lips before hearing yanjun take a sharp breath. he leaned forward to meet zhangjing in the middle.

yanjun kissed zhangjing as if it was now or never, as if zhangjing was gravity pulling him down back down to earth, falling and falling deeper and quicker. the hand finding it's way into yanjun's hair urged him closer, battling him to trap the air in between them. they kissed for what felt like decades as if time didn't exist in the very moment they shared. yanjun didn't feel butterflies, no sparks or fireworks, it just felt right.

the boys separated, breathless and dazed, resting their foreheads together. "god i've been wanting to do that since forever." yanjun whispered, smile tugging at his lips.

"well, guess you're gonna have to get use to it."

yanjun chuckled, intertwining pinkies with zhangjing, "so about that song you were writing?"

zhangjing took the latest sheet of unwrinkled, ink blotched paper and crumpled it up before throwing it into the pile of similar crinkled scraps. "not important anymore." he giggled.

when yanjun stared back at zhangjing on the field, green trees rustling in the wind behind him as sun fell, staining the skies pink, he knew he fell. (and luckily, zhangjing was his to kiss him better.)

**Author's Note:**

> legend has it yanjun still has zhangjing's jacket


End file.
